TRAVEL DEALS IN OTTAWA FOR FAMILIES
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Ottawa offers many free and low-cost things to do for families looking for vacation deals. Ottawa Tourism suggests the following summer activities for budget holidays.
Beach holidays
Free Ottawa beaches include Britannia Beach, on the Ottawa River, west of downtown, Mooney's Bay Beach, on the Rideau River, south of downtown, Petrie Island Beach, on the Ottawa River, east of downtown, and Westboro Beach on the Ottawa River, just west of downtown. For beach conditions, call 613-580-6744, ext.13219.
Beaches are open this summer from June 16 to August 26. Lifeguards supervise the beaches from noon until 7 pm daily.
Gatineau Park, north of Ottawa, has five serviced public beaches and Smith Beach for camping. Located around Philippe, Meech and La Pêche lakes, the beaches are open daily from the middle of June to mid-September.
Lifeguard supervision is available from 10 am to 6 pm. There's a nominal entrance fee for vehicles. Pets are not allowed on the beaches.
Free things to do on Parliament Hill
Visit Parliament Hill to see the free daily Changing the Guard ceremony. Arrive at 9:45 am for the introduction before the 30-minute ceremony.
Dates and times for the free Sound and Light Show, “Canada: The Spirit of a Country”, are 9:30 and 10:30 pm from July 5 to August 6, and 9 pm and 10 pm from August 7 to September 9.
For a free same-day tour of Parliament, visit the tent near West Block before the Changing the Guard ceremony for a ticket. Evening tours are cooler and less crowded.
Ontario's first UNESCO World Heritage Site
Rent canoes, kayaks and pedal boats to paddle along the Rideau Canal from the Dows Lake Pavilion at 1001 Queen Elizabeth Driveway, until Labour Day. Depending on the type of boat, rental costs range between $9 and $16 for the first hour and $7 per subsequent hour.
At the north end of the Rideau Canal, Rent-A-Bike offers bike rentals for reasonable hourly or daily rates.
Mer Bleue Bog
Go hiking in one of southern Ontario's largest bogs in the Ottawa Greenbelt. The United Nations' Ramsar Convention designated Mer Bleue as an internationally significant wetland. When you hike along the boardwalk, you see wildlife in a northern ecosystem that's more like the Arctic than the Ottawa Valley.
National Gallery of Canada free admission
On Thursday evenings, from 5 pm to 8:00 pm, admission is free to the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Canada. Visitors also receive free admission to the permanent collection when they visit a special exhibition, like the Renoir Landscapes exhibit, which runs until September 9.
Canadian money
The Royal Canadian Mint, in Ottawa, makes hand-crafted collector and commemorative coins, gold bullion coins, medals and medallions. On tours, visitors learn about master tooling to create the dies for coin designs for circulating and commemorative coins.
Adult admission is $5 ($3.50 on weekends) and children four to 15 are $3 each ($2 on weekends). Admission to children under four is free. Family admission to The Royal Canadian Mint is $13 ($10 on weekends). Learn about the history of money, including currencies like shells, teeth and cocoa beans, used by other civilizations, at the Currency Museum. Located in the Bank of Canada headquarters on Sparks Street in downtown Ottawa, the Currency Museum offers free admission.
Family vacation packages
Ottawa Tourism offers a Family Discovery package that begins at $207 for a family of four (maximum two adults). It includes two nights' accommodations, family admission to two of nine museums, tours, attractions and a Rideau Centre Visitor Values coupon booklet.
The best deal is the Family Discovery Extended package, which begins at just $387 for a family of four (maximum two adults) It includes four nights' accommodations, family admission to one of three popular museums and your choice of two additional museums, tours, attractions (from a list of seven) and a Rideau Centre Visitor Values coupon booklet.
More things to see and do in Ottawa:
Fun Things To Do In Ottawa
Ottawa Museums Passport
Canadian Tulip Festival
Ottawa Tourism: www.ottawatourism.ca
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